Knowledge base

The Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC) has revealed new details about its efforts to increase oversight of cryptocurrencies and related assets by integrating EU anti-money-laundering rules into Cyprus legislation.

Cyprus employees who are considered to have tax resident status, pay tax on their global income. Employees not considered to be tax resident are only charged for specific types of income that are originating from Cyprus-based sources.

The Central Bank of Cyprus has released new guidance for all credit institutions on the island, refining the definition for shell companies and subsidiary entities; coming into effect from November 2018, which are detailed as follows:

An individual is considered to be tax resident in Cyprus by spending a total (consecutive or otherwise) of 183 days or more in any one calendar year in Cyprus. Anyone earning an income in Cyprus falls into two categories:

Recently, the Cyprus Central Bank issued guidance to banks & credit institutions, advising them of the new mandatory refusal to take on new clients or to continue servicing existing accounts with so-called shell or letter-box companies.

Typical tax haven destinations such as BVI, Jersey and Switzerland have always been in the spotlight from profiting off of helping clients circumvent legislation in their jurisdiction of residence for decades.

The Cyprus Ministry of Finance has released a statement regarding the IMF (the International Monetary Fund) & the European Commission is recommending Bills regarding the islands longstanding issue with Non-Performing Loans.

The financial world is undergoing a technological revolution, with approximately 3 trillion financial deals entered into using digital ledger technology (DLT) and smart contracts within the next five years.

The corporate income tax rate of a Cyprus-resident company is 12.5% on its global taxable revenue, with unilateral credit for related foreign tax suffered. Moreover, non-Cyprus residents are not liable to pay Cyprus withholding taxes on payments. Frequently, the effective corporate tax rate is much lower, or even as low as nil, due to various tax exemptions and allowances.

The recent implementation and increasingly stringent tax developments globally can affect companies with offices in different countries; rendering them non-viable if certain factors are not carefully considered.